Welsh bi-lingual alt-rock trio Chroma are back with their powerful new single ‘I Wanna Be Where You Are’ out now via Alcopop! Records. Watch the video below. A crushing whirling dervish of a punk rock track that wrestles with trying to mask your issues with love, the track is the latest to be taken from the band’s gigantic Alcopop! Records 2023 debut album Ask For Angela.
The news comes ahead of a huge support slot with Foo Fighters for the band this week, and they also support Newport comedy hip hop troupe Goldie Lookin Chain on their forthcoming 2024 headline dates later this year, with limited tickets remaining.
Commenting on the single, vocalist Katie Hall said: “This song is about limerence. It’s a new word I’ve learnt from the Lalala Let Me Explain podcast. It means to be emotionally and romantically infatuated with someone. It’s like when you have an intense crush on someone who’s not good for you. It’s not necessarily because they’re a bad person, it’s because you’re in a bad place so you try to mask your problems with love. In an age of modern technology, love and dating seems disposable. When I fall into limerence it’s usually because I feel lonely. I think it’s something a lot of people go through. We wanted to write a punk song about turbulent love that people could maybe relate to.”
The track comes with an official music video directed by Ren Faulkner, with artistic direction from the band’s Katie Hall, movement director Bronwen Wilson Rashard, hair and makeup by Yasmine Davies, featuring model Emily Koko, styling by Alaw Griffiths and clothes by Rosie Evans.
“One of the coolest things about being in a band is being able to creatively direct your own music video,” says Hall of the challenge. “The idea for ‘I Wanna Be Where You Are’ came from a hinge date I went on in Port Talbot. I’ve always been fascinated by the steel works every time we drove past that area as a kid, and it’s been on my music video bucket list.”
“On the date we chatted a lot about the steelworks closing. It’s an estimated 20,000 jobs in the area. It’s hard to think of the pressure this puts families under during a cost of living crisis. I think Port Talbot is lush, the people and the place. The video also features Welsh designer Rosie Evans’ clothes. I love Rosie’s work, and it’s been a dream of mine for some time to wear one of her corsets.”
Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios, Llanbadarn Fynydd in the heart of Wales, CHROMA’s much lauded debut was produced and mixed by Steffan Pringle (Adwaith, Future of the Left, Boy Azooga) and mastered by Tom Langrish at E1 Mastering (IDLES, Fontaines D.C, DITZ) in London.
The band recently presented an episode of S4C’s returning TV series Curadur, with Hall inviting some of her favourite bands and artists to join her Clwb Cysgu Cwl (Sleepover Club). Featuring performances from The Joy Formidable, Panic Shack and of course Chroma, the episode is available on catch-up via BBC iPlayer and S4C Clic.
Riding high on a run of packed shows at SXSW Festival, FOCUS Wales, and a support slot with The Mysterines, the band announced their signing to Alcopop! Records in early 2023 and were recently hand-picked to support legendary US rockers Foo Fighters at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester on 15th June 2024 alongside Courtney Barnett. They also played further shows alongside Bob Vylan and more.
The trio have just been announced as one of the latest patrons of the Music Venue Trust, and will support the work of the charity in sharing the importance of Grassroots Music Venues and their crucial role in the music industry’s ecosystem.
